Have you heard?


I love Korea! Love, love, love, love, love it!
I think that one of the main reasons that I had such a wonderful trip, and that Korea left such an impression on me, was the people.
I got to see my friend, Kihoon, whom I've missed very much since he went back to Korea from Japan, as well as Chihye, another missionary who lived in the town north of me. Through both of them I met some wonderful, kind, amazing people!




This is post-Pizza Hut dinner. I had a sweet potato, pineapple pizza. Yummy!
Going clockwise from bottom left is Kihoon, Chihye, the two Mrs. Nishis (they're sisters that I studied Korean with), Miss Choi, Miss Min, Nobuyo (a member of my church who I also studied Korean with), and Miss Park. I hope I am spelling everyone's name right!
Kihoon lived for one year as a missionary at my church Kisei Chapel. He is actually the person who helped me to find my faith in God again. He invited me to come to his Korean class at Kisei Chapel, and to play taiko drums and make Japanese pottery. Then I decided to try going to a church service. Wonders never cease, because then I started going every week!
Chihye lived for 2 years as a missionary in Odai, the town north of mine. I didn't know her very well in Japan, but I got to know her better while I was in Korea. She's so sweet, and I felt very inspired by her faith.
The Nishi sisters both studied Japanese at my church. They are very funny ladies.
I met Nobuyo at church, and we also studied Korean together. She is a junior high school English teacher.
Miss Choi, Miss Min, and Miss Park all lived at Kisei Chapel in the past as missionaries. They all speak Japanese really well.




It was funny hanging out with this group, because although I was in Korea, I got a lot of Japanese practice! The ladies from Japan said it was really funny to watch Koreans and an American speaking Japanese together, instead of one of our native languages!


This is Grace, Esther, and I in the subway station near Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul. Chihye introduced me to them and we all went sightseeing together. Grace is a member of Chihye's church. She was sooo sweet. She's 20 years old, and has never been overseas, but she speaks English so well! She was so kind to me, and went out of her way to help me have a great time in Seoul! Esther was a former classmate of Chihye's. She is a school teacher now. She also went out of her way for me, and I am really grateful to have met her!


This is Chihye and I posing beneath what is supposed to represent a typical Korean face. Both of Chihye's parents seemed to think that I looked Korean. No, I don't know what they were talking about. Maybe it's my cheeks. Chihye's mother even asked if I had any Korean relatives or ancestors! Hilarious!


This is Samonim, the pastor's wife at Kihoon's church; me; and Kiyoung, Kihoon's 16 year old cousin. We all ate dinner together at the church and then played ping-pong on my first night back in Busan. Samonim is really, really hilarious. She was one of my very favorite people that I met in Korea. She really likes speaking English, even though she's not very good at it! Kihoon explained to me that she had prayed for God to send her someone to speak English with, and then one day an American woman named Sarah showed up at her church. She became friends with Sarah, but Sarah is living outside of Busan now, so she doesn't get to see her very often. Then she prayed again for God to send her someone to speak English with, and I showed up at her church. She was soooo happy to spend time with me! I love Samonim!


Samonim, Kihoon, and Kiyoung. Kiyoung was so sweet. He studies English in school, and has studied Japanese for fun. So, I was able to speak both English and Japanese with him. I hope that he'll keep studying both, because it's such a wonderful thing to be able to communicate with people from other countries!


Samonim, Kihoon, and I. I miss them.

いろいろ


Today I came home from school, stripped off my sweaty track pants and polo shirt, sat on my couch in my underwear, and watched TV while I ate rice and daikon (a big radish) kimchi. Does that sound strange? The daikon kimchi was so delicious, and it felt so good to be out of my sweaty clothes. I felt perfectly content as I sat there enjoying every crunchy bite. I can't wait to eat the rest of that daikon kimchi, and then buy more. I learned this week that kimchi doesn't work very well as something that you take to school for lunch. It's quite smelly. Even tupperware and a lunch bag couldn't really stifle that fragrant kimchi odor! I felt like there was a little cloud of cabbagey stinkiness around my desk!

Last weekend I called Jonathan and we met up to go for a swim. We drove to a near deserted beach in Kii Nagashima (where Jonathan lives) and floated around in the sea for awhile. It's been nothing but rain around here lately, and that day was no exception. So we swam beneath the clouds. There's a Japanese word for "sea of clouds". I'm quite fond of it. The word is "雲海".

I love that you can float on your back in the sea and not even have to move your arms or legs to keep afloat. There are some really beautiful beaches in this area. I wish I had gone swimming more during the summer! On the way home Jonathan and I saw about 8 monkeys by the road. We stopped to try and take pictures of them, but I was on the wrong side of the car for it, and the monkeys around here don't seem to like having their pictures taken!



I am reading "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami.
I am entirely obsessed. But perhaps obsessed is not the right word.
I am wrapped up in it.
I am filled up by it.
I felt the same way when I was reading "Norwegian Wood" by Murakami. I feel as if my own world is altered as I read about the world that the characters in his books inhabit. Wouldn't you like to read it and tell me if you feel any strange effects?

I feel the need to write a "Japanese countryside appreciation" post.
Lately, I've been very focused on how much I like cities, but the bicycle ride I went on this evening reminded me of how wonderful it is where I live.
Once I turned off the noisy, main route, all I could hear was wind, cicadas, and frogs. In every direction I was surrounded by green mountains and rice fields.
I stopped by a small pond where I had seen some massive koi the last time I took this same route. They were still there, and seemed excited at the prospect of getting some food from me, but sadly I had nothing to give but a smile, and they probably didn't notice that!



Soon after that something caught my eye off to my left side. It was a monkey dropping from a tree branch! Then I realized that there were actually about 5 or 6 monkeys, including a baby hanging onto its mother. Oh, I love monkeys! They're so cute. The monkeys here are Macaques with funny, little, red faces. They all quickly ran away when I stopped my bicycle.
I rode far enough today to find the "Ouchiyama Fureai Bokujou", which is a farm where one can see cows (and possibly other animals), and make butter by hand. It was already closed, but now that I know where it is, I'll have to go back on another weekend.
On my way back towards my house, I saw one of my favorite first graders from Ouchiyama elementary school. His face lit up when he saw me and he yelled "Meigaaaan sensei!" So, I yelled "Hello" and waved. Then he responded with the cutest little "Harrrrrooo". He even rolled his R. It was precious. I had a big smile on my face after that!
My little village here in the Japanese countryside is amazing. I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful, peaceful place (with a little used car disposal problem)!

最近マイブームは浴衣です。
Saikin maibuumu wa yukata desu.
My recent obsession (or "my boom") is yukata.


Yukata are cotton kimonos worn in the summertime, usually when going to festivals or going to see fireworks. I have two yukatas, the strawberry one shown in the photo, and I recently got a sky blue yukata with a hydrangea and dragonfly design. I really like my silver obi with a floral design, so I wore it with both yukatas. I wore my yukata to see fireworks in Ise city 2 weeks ago, and to the Tourou (lantern) Festival in Kii Nagashima last weekend.
Because I've been kind of obsessed, I've been looking up yukatas online and reading webpages in Japanese and English about how to properly wear yukatas. It's somewhat challenging for me, because my body is not a good shape for yukatas (in other words, I have curves), but I am trying my best to achieve a nice look. I can put on my yukata and tie my obi (the long sash worn around the waist) by myself now, which seems to surprise the Japanese people I've told! I definitely need more practice though. I got a komono set (accessories), which includes a yukata obi ita (a board worn in the front, beneath the obi), and the obi ita helps the look of the obi a lot! It's kind of a complicated dressing process, definitely more so than you can tell by looking at someone who looks carefree in their pretty yukata! I am really interested in learning about kitsuke (wearing kimono), but perhaps I should wait until it gets cooler outside! It's too hot really for yukata even, I don't want to think about all the layers involved in wearing a kimono!

July has been so busy. My quiet, Japanese life isn't seeming so quiet anymore.
Last weekend I went "camping" in Miyama. Camping could also be described as sleeping on a futon in a luxury cabin where the floors are covered in drunk, sprawled out foreigners.

We are not the drunk, sprawled out foreigners I was referring to!


I drank too many chu-hais on Friday night, and on Saturday my head was none too happy about it. Can you say "hangover plus migraine"? However, I did get breakfast cooked for me by some nice boys.
I got to go swimming in the Miyama river. The swimming hole is one of the prettiest places that I've ever been. The water is blue and clear, and there are boulders like you've never seen before! The water was so cold, but it felt really good on my aching head. I kept going beneath the surface, because it kind of had a numbing effect!

On Saturday night we had a barbeque where I ate lots of yummy veggies with Katie, Julia, and Lolly. The barbeques are right inside the tables, so you can sit and chat and eat all at the same time! We could barely walk after and hour of barbequeing!

Here I am with Katie and Heidi.

Everyone started drinking again at dinner. I didn't drink much on Saturday night, because I was getting up and going to church the next morning. Yes, people, God saved me from a hangover! I did, however, go skinny-dipping. It was the most futile attempt at skinny-dipping ever though! The spot where we went in the river, was only about knee deep, so we were all sitting or squatting in the freezing river with our bums on slimy rocks! Oh, well. I guess I can add "Skinny-dipped in Japan" to my resume.

Today I will be going to see the massive (2 hour long!!!) firework display in Ise city. I am hoping that Karly can help me to get into my strawberry yukata (summer kimono) for the fireworks. Then tomorrow I am heading up to Nagoya with Karly, Katie, and Eva. I am going to get my haircolor touched-up and then we're going to see sumo wrestling on Monday! I am so excited to see sumo!!! It's gonna be a long weekend. Good thing Monday is a holiday!

I have so many thoughts running through my head; so many impressions floating around in quite a disordered fashion. I think the fact that I've been watching Japanese TV all morning isn't helping matters. It all seems quite random.

I went to Mie University Hospital again yesterday. It was my second time there, and my fifth time at a hospital looking for a reason and a cure for the earache I've had for about six or seven weeks now.

My symptoms seem to be hard to diagnose, because the first few times I went the doctor thought that I had Meniere's disease. The specialist at Mie University Hospital thinks that I may have some kind of neuralgia (nerve pain) instead. But he's not sure. None of the doctors are ever sure.

I went to the pain clinic at the hospital yesterday to see an anesthesiologist. He prescribed me something for what may or may not be neuralgia. Now I wait and see. Then I go back Monday.

I have missed so many days of school because of this. I am so lucky to have an understanding and supportive Board of Education. My supervisor takes me to the hospital each time. It's a lot of long car rides and waiting rooms. The hospital in Matsusaka is over and hour away, and the hospital in Tsu is about and hour and a half away.

It's so frustrating. I don't want to be sick. I don't want to be reliant on medicine everyday. I want to be motivated and have the energy to clean this damned apartment of mine. But for now I don't.

However, I am thankful for my faith, and for the comfort God gives me. I am also thankful for my friends from Kisei Chapel, who have been so caring and encouraging.

I just really, really hope that this medicine will help me and end this pain!!

Wow! I had Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door today! I was not exepcting that on a rainy, Saturday morning here in my little, Japanese village!
I told them (in Japanese) that I already went to church, and that I couldn't read Japanese well, so I didn't end up with any literature. I wonder if they'll be back before long with copies of the Watchtower in English...
I can't imagine being a door-to-door Missionary in Japan! As far as I know, only about one percent of the population in Japan is Christian. There are actually two churches in my town of about 11,000 people, and I got to one of them, but I don't think that's the norm!
I could imagine the missionaries getting invited in for tea more often though, because people don't realy understand what they're there for, and also because of societal pressure to be a good host if you have a visitor. I wonder if that's the case...

Dinner with the Sako's

Pastor Imakura, Ki Hoon, Mr. Sako, Me, and Mrs. Sako.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Sako's house for dinner with Ki Hoon and Pastor Imakura.

Mr. and Mrs. Sako were my classmates in the beginning Korean class that Ki Hoon taught. They recently finished building their new house. It was such a cool house! They had a lot of wood in the house, so it even had a lovely cypress smell. I wish my apartment smelled like cypress!

Apparently, Mrs. Sako used to teach cooking classes. Lucky us! Our dinner was so yummy. Everytime I've been invited to someone's house for dinner, it's been like Christmas! I am talking about a major feast! The Sako's are a really sweet couple. They've known each other since the 1st grade!

Ki Hoon and I with a Hima Matsuri doll set.

Mrs. Sako left out her Hina Matsuri (Doll festival) doll set for me to see. It was really lovely. I hadn't had a chance to see one in someone's house. Maybe I'll have one someday...

A child's life

The kids in Barangay Bahile were so awesome! While I do love my students here in Japan, they can't compete with these kids in terms of openness, curiousity, friendliness, and spirit. Although many of these kids didn't have a lot in terms of material possessions or toys, they were so full of love and joy! It was very powerful.

The imagination, resourcefulness, and inventiveness of the kids when they played reminded me of myself when I was a child.

A little, unused bus became a space with endless possibilities.

Foreigners with cameras provided endless entertainment for the kids. There was never a shortage of kids eager to pose for a picture! They loved seeing their pictures on the digital camera screens afterwards.

A big pile of dirt made for an exciting (and filthy!) playground.

One of my favorite kids, Walter, built pyramids out of spare pieces of wood, while we made bricks.

I truly hope that I will have a chance to go back there again and see all these beautiful children once more.

The children of Barangay Bahile, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan Province, Philippines!






If you haven't heard yet, my trip to the Philippines was amazing!
The Mie JETs group that I was a part of went to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan province. We were volunteers with Habitat for Humanity's Global Village program. We worked with people in Barangay (village) Bahile to build houses.
The people on the Board of Directors there and the people in Barangay Bahile, especially the children, were amazing! I loved the way that we were welcomed with open arms and open hearts.

The children loved dancing, and generally danced all day, everyday, when we were in the village. It began as soon as we arrived, when the children danced for us at a welcome ceremony!

The adorable Anthony wearing our team leader's hat and camera.

The trip only got better from there! Everyday we got to hang out with the children during our break times and meal times.

They even got into the act and carried bricks with us sometimes. So sweet. A lot of the kids could speak some English, which was fun for us. Even the little ones who couldn't speak English were still our buddies.

2 beautiful girls in front of the daycare center in Barangay Bahile.

Hello Kitty Nurse




Ohmygod. I am so lethargic. I can barely type.
I have been staring at my computer screen, trying to plan my upcoming elementary lessons, but I seem unable to form coherent thoughts.
This is what happens to me after a week sitting in the board of education office. I don't know what it is about this place, perhaps it's the fact that I usually have nothing to do while I am here, but I just go brain dead.
I wish for something to do, but then when I come up with something, my brain seems unable to function. This is pitiful.
I feel like I need a giant Hello Kitty in a nurse uniform to drop in and give me a generous shot of adrenalin. If the adrenalin didn't work, the sight of a Hello Kitty nurse might just cheer me up a bit.

pineappleidiotic


Ok, so this tasty fresh pineapple I bought, a "sweetio" actually, has been calling my name.

After the Philippines I've been craving fresh fruit...

So, I sliced up the sweetio pineapple, and began feasting. I was eating a lot. Half way through the pineapple I began to wonder if eating a lot of pineapple could hurt your mouth. I was thinking more of the acidity than anything else. Then my mouth started to bleed.

Yes, I ate so much pineapple that my lower lip started BLEEDING!!!! I guess gnawing all that delicious pineapple off the rind was a little abrasive on my lips.

Fuck! Deliciousness makes me idiotic!

I'm getting a couch!!!
After almost 7 months of sitting on the floor, I'm getting a wonderfully free couch! Yay!!!!! MY back will be so happy!!!
More news to come...

Hiking to the ocean in Kii Nagashima



Last weekend I went for a hike down to the ocean with Karly and Jonathan in Kii Nagashima. Both the beauty and the challenge far exceeded my expectations.
Kii Nagashima is the town south of me, where Jonathan lives. We walked up to a look-out point first, and then we took a trail that Jonathan had previously found. It was fairly straight forward at first, but then it involved a sharp incline, holding onto a rope, and feet slipping on loose leaves. I started cursing and telling Karly and Jonathan that they had too much faith in my hiking ability! It all turned out to be worth it.
The ocean was gorgeous. We ended up in a spot that most people wouldn't be able to find, or be willing to get to. The rocks were gorgeous. You can see the history in them. They appear to be made of layers pushed together over thousands of years.
The ocean was just beautiful. I love the sound of ocean waves. I climbed down to sit nearer to the water and just enjoyed the feeling of being there. The water was so blue, and so full of power. The ocean always gives me a really unique, intense feeling. Even not being in the water, I felt covered and surrounded by it. It was a cloudy day, which actually looked quite beautiful. The clouds were like a reflection of the waves in the sky.

Rocking a tracksuit- Japanese teacher style



Well, I've gone over to the darkside. I bought myself a tracksuit. Now, I don't see anything wrong with tracksuits, but it's not something I would have considered wearing to work everyday in America. However, in Japan, tracksuits are synonymous with school teachers. Everyday, at least half the staff, if not more, are wearing either track pants, or an entire tracksuit. I have even seen the terribly attractive combo of button-up shirt and tie with track pants on a vice-principal. I would have liked a Puma, Adidas, or Le Coq Sportif tracksuit, but I settled for Reebok, because they were on sale. It's black with a tiny, rainbow pinstripes up the sides.

I finally decided that a tracksuit would be comfy and handy when I want to play outside with the kids, or join in a gym class. Despite my blond hair and blue eyes I felt like a bonafide Japanese teacher when I put on the tracksuit in the dressing room. It reminded me of when I went shopping for a suit in the US before I came to Japan. When I put on a suit, I felt like a grown-up!

In case you were wondering, a large percentage of the elementary school kids wear tracksuits everyday, too. You just can't escape the tracksuit in the Japanese school system.

Here I am with some of my third graders. Sorry you can't see the tracksuit better!

Old School Medicine

I wrote this on March 10, 2006.

I went to see a doctor in Japan last week. I've done that once before, but my boss came with me, which was good in some ways and bad in others. In any case, I went BY MYSELF this time. Scary! Going to the doctor in your home country, speaking your native language can be scary enough, so imagine how much fun it can be in Japan!

Japanese medicine seems to be very old-fashioned in a lot of ways, and not just because the nurses wear dresses, knee socks, and 1950s-style nurse caps. After slaughtering the Japanese language and looking terrified, I was given an old-school, glass thermometer so I could take my own temperature. I am glad that I asked before I stuck it in my mouth, because you actually put it under your armpit and sit in the waiting room for 5 minutes with it there. In such a technologically advanced country, do they not have those handy mouth ones that take your temperature in like 5 seconds? Maybe it's because I was at a small town clinic. It's hard to say.

When the nurses saw me headed for the bathroom, they asked me to pee in a cup- a paper cup that is. So, I took my paper cup into the bathroom, and hoped that I'd filled it up enough (although I was there for vaccinations and allergy advice, so they probably just threw my pee away!). Then I went to wash my hands, but alas, there was no soap or towels. Yeah, no soap or towels in a doctor's office bathroom. I can kind of understand the lack in public restrooms, but this was a doctor's office- a doctor's office in a country where about 20% of the people I see everyday are wearing face masks for health reasons! I felt very sanitary after the ice cold rinse I gave my hands in the smelly bathroom.

My actual time with the doctor went OK. He spoke English very well. I got a tetanus booster, which hurt like hell. He didn't have any hepatitis A vaccine, so I had to go back for that. I also got Malaria pills, with no warnings about the side-effects that can come with them, some nasal spray, because Japanese hay fever had given me a sore throat, and Relpax for migraines. It all turned out to be more affordable than I expected! It cost me around 9000 yen (75$). I have health insurance?but I still thought it would be a lot more.

I went back to the clinic again this week, and faced a few more challenges. My cash card from the bank was broken, and I didn't have my inkan (personal stamp) with me, so the bank wouldn't give me any money. So, although I now knew how to say "I'm here for a vaccination" in Japanese, I also needed to explain that I didn't have enough cash to pay right then! Somehow, I managed to express that! Yay for Megan!

I am happy to say that the hepatitis A vaccine didn't hurt too badly, and I now feel less fearful of catching some dreaded disease in the Philippines. And my Japanese just keeps getting better.......

I have a drinking problem

I wrote this on January 24, 2006.

I have a "drinking problem". No, it's not alcohol. I tend to drink a lot of water, juice, tea and the like. It seems like a good idea- being hydrated, flushing out toxins, that kind of thing. It also comes with drawbacks though. For one thing, I rarely make it through a night's sleep without needing to get up and use the bathroom. That's a cold, cold trip through my unheated apartment.
The worst thing though, in this magical land called Japan, are the trips to the smelly, 40 degree bathrooms with the charming squat toilets.



I have to put on the dirty, toilet slippers (yes, bathrooms have their own special slippers), expose my poor ass to the icy air, and then wash my hands in ice cold water when I'm finished.
Seriously, those of you in the "heated world" just don't understand the misery of these arctic, Japanese bathrooms.
That takes me back to my "drinking problem". I try my hardest to avoid the school bathrooms, but I can't stop peeing! I mean, I'm making 3 to 5 trips during my 8 hour workday. It's miserable. I should lay off the water bottle, and avoid the ladies who bring green tea to my desk. But I can't!! I'm thirsty. My body needs to be hydrated.
Oh, spring, please arrive soon! Please bring warmer temps to the Japanese bathrooms.

Magic Toilet Park

I wrote this on January 19, 2006

So, tonight was a "Girls' Night In" for my neighbor Karly and I. We were both in need of it. Adding alcohol to the equation hadn't occured to me until she showed up at my apaato with a bottle of Australian red wine! It was a stroke of genius!
We chatted and started drinking while I made a homemade sauce for our penne pasta. I tell you, you get half a glass of wine in me, and all that pent up chatter just comes pouring out.
I almost fell on the floor because I was laughing so hard as I told Karly about the creativity of one of my students. The 7th graders has to draw and write about their "ideal park". Rui came up with "Magic Toilet" park (actually "magikku toire park" which I improved upon with my smashing, native English skills). His park is full of toilets. "A big guy uses a toilet. Boys use toilets. This park smells bad, but I like this park." The teacher I work with told me that Rui really likes toilets and likes to sit in the 2nd floor bathrom of the jr. high. Ummm, OK!? The Japanese have a kind of weird national obession with bodily functions and toilets. They are either top of the line, or squat toilets. Usually, in public places, they're squat toilets. The top of the line ones are nice, though! "Warmlets" sent from god with heated seats, bidet, "warm shower", and drying functions. Awesome!
Anyways, our night continued as we continued drinking and chatting through 5 episodes of "Sex and the City". I'm so excited, because Karly got all 6 seasons on DVD as a Christmas gift! It's fun to laugh aloud, and compare ourselves and others to the characters in the show.
Thank heavens for "Girls Night In". We agreed that we should do it more often.
Now I am off to bed for a tipsy night's sleep. Ahhh...

My Journeys

I wrote this on January 15, 2006.

So, I'm back in Japan after spending 2 weeks in Michigan. It feels quite nice to be in my quiet, little apartment.
I went for a walk in the rain yesterday. On one hand I felt a little lonely, but on the other hand it was nice to be breathing fresh air and just letting my thoughts wander.
It is a strange realization that twice in my life I have ended up in a small, mountain village in a foreign land. In September of 1995 I arrived in Rotterode, a village of 500 people in the Thuringian Forest of central Germany. In August of 2005 I arrived in Ouchiyama, a village of 1600 people in the mountains of Mie prefecture, Japan.
My experiences have been quite different though. Both have involved culture shock, feeling out of place, and struggling to make myself understood in a foreign language. However, after 4 months in Germany and Japan I ended up in two very different places emotionally.
By December of 1995 I had cried buckets; written long, desperate letters home; drank myself to sleep inside my closet; chain-smoked cigarettes, because I knew it was self-destructive; considered throwing myself out a window so that they would send me home; moved to a new host family where I was also unhappy; been yelled at and mocked by schoolmates until I ran away from the schoolyard; skipped school, so I could sit crying on park benches; and contemplated hitting old Hausfraus on the head with glass coke bottles, because I had so much pent-up anger. On December 26th, 1995, I returned to Michigan, determined to stay there for a good long time, and leaving my exchange program 6 months early.
By December of 2005 I have been stared at almost everywhere I go; talked about; laughed at; felt like a zoo animal; but I have also met a lot of nice, welcoming people, as well as my elementary and jr. high school students who I am very fond of; I received a "happy birthday" letter from almost all of my students at Nishiki jr. high after my birthday; I have had 3 welcome parties; and I have been visited at home by my village's policeman, who was just checking to make sure that everything was going all right for me. On December 26, 2005 I went back to Michigan, just for a visit, and was ready to return at the end of the two weeks. That's not to say that I'm not full of a lot of emotions, or that I don't miss my family and friends in America. When I was in Michigan, I realized that I don't have a home there. My home is in Japan, at least for the time being. I like my little apartment, and my quiet, slow-paced life. It has been good for me to make a new start; to set off on a new adventure.
Towards the end of my walk yesterday I realized that there was a gorgeous rainbow in the sky. One end started behind a mountain, and the other end landed between 2 more mountains. I felt such a sense of happiness and peace when I saw it. I excitedly called my neighbor to tell her to look outside. She tried, but apparently, it wasn't visible from our apartments. She said, "I guess it's a rainbow just for you." I felt even happier then, as if it really were a rainbow just for me. That rainbow was like a reminder that everything was going to be alright.

Baba Shatsu

I wrote this on November 14, 2005.

Oh, it`s so cold in these Japanese schools! I came to school in kneesocks, jeans, an undershirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and a hooded sweatshirt.
After going to one class I drove home during a break and put on long underwear (top and bottom), wool socks, and a handkerchief tied around my neck. I soon realized that even that isn`t enough. So, I put a little heat pad in the front pocket of my sweatshirt to warm up my hands. Even after doing that my bum and my feet were freezing. So, I put two more little heating pads in the back pockets of my jeans. After bringing up the base temperature of my ass, I think I`ll transfer the heating pads to my slippers and try to warm up my feet!
Oh, indoor heating, why have you forsaken me?
The poor female students have to wear skirts! And their socks only come half way up their shins. Brrr. I won`t be envying them this winter!
By the way, I learned yesterday that long underwear are called "baba shatsu" in Japanese. That means "Grandma shirt". Pretty cute, eh?
Note to self: must buy more "baba shatsu".